(WASHINGTON, DC) -- President Joe Biden and his family discussed whether to pardon Hunter Biden during their time together in Nantucket for Thanksgiving, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News Monday.
Senior White House staff learned of the possibility of a pardon on Saturday evening. President Biden made his final decision on Sunday, the source said.
Biden did not answer questions on the issue as he left late Sunday for a three-day trip to Africa. He also ignored shouted questions during a brief stop in Cabo Verde on Monday.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, peppered with questions about the pardon during a gaggle with reporters on Air Force once, said Biden "wrestled" with the decision and made it himself over the weekend.
"It wasn't an easy decision to make," Jean-Pierre said.
She added that President Biden ultimately believed his son was "singled out politically" and they "tried to break his son in order to break him."
First lady Jill Biden, while unveiling the White House's holiday theme on Monday alongside military families, took a brief question on the Hunter Biden pardon.
"Of course I support the pardon of my son," she said.
Hunter Biden, the president's only surviving son, was convicted on federal gun-related charges in June and pleaded guilty to nine tax-related charges in September. Both cases carried the possibility of significant prison time and he was set to be sentenced in both later this month.
President Biden had long said he would not pardon his son, including in an interview with ABC's David Muir as Hunter Biden's gun trial was underway this past summer.
In his statement on Sunday evening, Biden contended his son was "unfairly" prosecuted after pressure from his political opponents.
"For my entire career I have followed a simple principle: just tell the American people the truth. They’ll be fair-minded. Here’s the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice -- and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further," President Biden said.
Hunter Biden, his wife Melissa Cohen Biden and their son Beau, as well as Ashley Biden, spent Thanksgiving in Nantucket with President Biden and first lady Jill Biden.
"I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision," the president added.
Asked what changed between Biden's past insistence he would not pardon his son and his announcement Sunday, Jean-Pierre repeatedly referred to Biden's statement.
"He wrestled with it. He thought about it. And he believed, and what he saw, was that his son was singled out," she said. "And so he made this decision and once he made the decision, which was this weekend, he decided to move forward with it, and not to not to wait and. And you know, I think he truly believed enough is enough."
Republicans, including President-elect Donald Trump, pounced on the reversal.
Congressional Republicans spent years investigating the Biden family, including Hunter Biden, over their business dealings. House Republicans released a report in August on their impeachment probe filled with allegations, many targeted toward Hunter Biden, but no recommendation of specific impeachment articles and no evidence of President Biden himself being directly involved in alleged improper activities.
It's not clear whether Republicans will continue their probes after President Biden leaves office in January.
Jean-Pierre told reporters on Monday that Biden "didn't believe they would let up."
"They would continue to go after his son. That's what he believed," Jean-Pierre said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday criticized the pardon, which extends as far back as 2014.
"President Biden insisted many times he would never pardon his own son for his serious crimes. But last night he suddenly granted a 'Full and Unconditional Pardon' for any and all offenses that Hunter committed for more than a decade!" Johnson wrote on X. "Trust in our justice system has been almost irreparably damaged by the Bidens and their use and abuse of it. Real reform cannot begin soon enough!"